White Enrollment Continues Its Slide

January 18, 1986|By Casey Banas, Education writer.

The continuing decline in white enrollment in Chicago public schools was reflected in a 1985 survey of the school system released Friday showing that only 4 of the city`s 65 high schools had mostly white enrollments.

In 1980, 15 high schools had enrollments that were more than 50 percent white, a figure that dropped to 9 in the annual racial and ethnic school survey for 1984.

The most recent survey, taken Oct. 31, showed that minority enrollment rose to more than 50 percent for the first time in five of the high schools.

Those schools include Lane Tech, 2501 W. Addison St., where whites composed 48.5 percent of the enrollment in 1985, according to the survey released by School Supt. Manford Byrd Jr. White enrollment there was down from 51.3 percent in 1984 and 62.2 percent in 1980.

``Fewer white students are applying, and more minority students are applying,`` said Thomas Teraji, the school system`s director of facilities planning.

Lane, which for decades has been considered by educators and others as one of the city`s premier high schools, selects its freshmen based on scores from standardized reading and math tests in elementary school, grades, attendance and recommendations from principals.

Lane had 3,695 applicants for last September`s freshmen class. It offered admission to 1,674 in expecting to meet its target goal of 1,225, although 1,322 accepted.

Teraji said two main reasons for the decline of whites are population shifts and desegregation policies. Those policies establish new programs in some schools and allow any student in the city to apply for admission, instead of limiting enrollment to youngsters living in prescribed attendance zones.

Overall, white enrollment continued its declining trend since the first survey was made public in 1964. The latest survey listed 61,096 students, or 14.2 percent, as white, down from 63,430, or 14.7 percent, in 1984.

Black enrollment dropped to 259,955 from 261,386, or to 60.3 percent from 60.6. Hispanic enrollment increased to 97,325 from 94,246, or to 22.5 percent from 21.9. American Indian/Alaskan native enrollment rose to 769 from 743, staying at about 0.2 percent. Asian or Pacific Islander rose to 11,763 from 11,421, or to 2.7 percent from 2.6.

Total enrollment dipped to 430,908 from 431,226.

Three high schools that had a majority of white students in 1984 but no longer do are Washington, 3535 E. 114th St.; Kelly, 4136 S. California Ave.;

and Amundsen, 5110 N. Damen Ave. Teraji explained that more minority families have moved into the communities served by those schools.

Specifically, more Hispanic students have been shifting to those three high schools. Though Kelly is 46.8 percent white, it also has the fewest number of blacks of any city public high school, with 19 students, or 1.1 percent. Hispanic students compose 51.6 percent of the enrollment.

The fifth high school dropping below 50 percent white is Hubbard, 6200 S. Hamlin Ave. It went from 50.1 percent white in 1984 to 45.8 percent in 1985. Teraji attributed the change to the effect of a boundary change and to new programs open to youngsters living outside the school`s attendance zone.

In a survey of elementary schools in the system, 61 of 495 remain mostly white. In a rare instance, the survey showed that from 1984 to 1985 Eberhart Elementary School, 3400 W. 65th Pl., increased its white enrollment to 435 youngsters from 401, or to 70.2 percent from 67.7 percent of the school`s population.

But Francine Fatima, a member of the Eberhart Parent-Teacher Association board and a longtime desegregation opponent, scoffed at the survey. She said the school system has a number of Arab pupils, and ``Arabians are considered white. That`s a fooler around the city. The Board of Education is playing racial politics.``

Fatima said Arab students, like Hispanics, should be listed as a separate category in the surveys. But Teraji said the school system follows federal designations of five racial and ethnic groups, which are white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan native, Asian or Pacific Islander and Hispanic. In the survey, Hispanic is subdivided into Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Hispanic.